I wrote this a few years back. Believe it or not, the Fifties Lady is still on my ‘frig.
This picture is on the wall of my refrigerator. It is an inspiration. I mean, just look at this woman. She is decidedly straight from the 1950s, no doubt about it. Look at those pink stretch pants, that teased hair, all the pink in her colorful kitchen. She is who she is and she’s happy with being herself. The sun is shining through her kitchen window, she is striding purposely toward the door, smiling, her head lifted to meet the new day. She exudes confidence and a sense of purpose. Where did this picture come from? It was an advertisement for a trash bag company. I tore it from the page of a magazine years ago.
This ad impressed me so much that I wrote to the company that makes the trash bags. I had an idea for a marketing campaign. I would use this lady in different situations, always in the same pink stretch pants and frizzed hair, dealing with one challenge after the other. The caption would be something like, “These trash bags never spring a leak even when love goes wrong” or “Her house might be flooded, but inside the trash bag, all is dry,” or “No over-night case? Try a trash bag instead.” You know, something up-lifting and inspiring.
Did the company write to me, grateful for my loyalty and overwhelmed by my creativity? Did they immediately offer to fly me to New York and employ me as the go-to person for future ads? Unbelievably, they sent me a cold, formal note saying they had their own people working on promotion, thank you. Huh!
However, I don’t hold grudges, so that clipping stayed on my refrigerator, continuing to inspire and uplift. When life begins to get me down and clouds cover the sun, I just glance at that confident woman marching into the day, able to deal with whatever comes along. Looking back at it the good parts of the 1950s, I remember a great deal of positivity and a can-do attitude. If the sun doesn’t shine, if storms threaten, if things don’t turn out exactly as I’d hoped, I gaze at my refrigerator–and am inspired. I can always count on the uplifting attitude of the can-do, perky and peppy fabulous fifties lady of the pink trash bag.
Speak Your Mind